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An unexpected place of interest we came across on one of our walks was The first cemetery of Athens, again a very short walk from our apartment in the area of Metz.  Admittedly a visit to the local cemetery is not on every tourist ‘to do’ list but this place really is a bit special.  As its name suggests, it is the first cemetery to be built in Athens and was opened in 1837.  The cemetery consists of a large, well-kept area split into walkways laid out beneath the shade of a forest of cypress pine trees. These trees have been chosen as they reach high towards the sky and signify the souls of the deceased heading hopefully, in the right direction. 

Tree-lined walkways

Cremation is not allowed by the Greek orthodox church as their belief is that resurrection is not possible from ashes.  Unfortunately, this means that space for burial in Greece is at a premium.  Wealthy families have mausoleums in the cemetery to use as the final resting place for generations of their families.  Beautiful examples of these marble structures can be seen all around the cemetery. 

However, for most ordinary folk, after burial, the body is left for three to seven years depending on the areas need for space then it is exhumed.  The bones are then kept in a rented ossuary (urn) within the cemetery.  If the family can’t afford to rent an ossuary then the bones are buried again in common ground.   

Within the first cemetery, there are separate graveyards for Catholics, protestants and Jews and many include marble sculptures of those laid to rest.  Some of the finest examples of nineteenth and twentieth Greek sculpture can be found within the first cemetery.  Many famous people from the history of Greece are buried here including poets, actors and politicians.  

One of the most famous sculptures here is that of the sleeping maiden, The tombstone of Sophia Afentaki. You will find this sculpture near the entrance to the cemetery, it was created by the famous Greek sculpture Yannoulis Chalepas in 1878 and in it he depicts death as an everlasting sleep 

Karyo and I have wandered around  The first cemetery a couple of times during our stay and would really recommend it as a tranquil place to spend time away from the noise and hecticness of the city life of Athens. 

                                             Where Next?

This week seems to have seen more European countries making entry restrictions more difficult with the insistence that travellers must now have a covid negative result that has been taken within the last 72 hours.  We are still unsure how to go about getting this test and how the logistics of the 72-hour rule works so have decided we will stay in Greece for December but hopefully will leave Athens to move further south.  Today,  Sat 21 November, we went to the police station to ask whether travelling to other areas of Greece is allowed but have been told so far this is not possible.  Our tenancy in our current accommodation ends 29th November but the current lockdown rules are in place until 30th November which is bad timing for us.  Our plan now is to wait until the next few days when an announcement will be made as to whether the current rules will be extended or relaxed before we make a decision on where to stay in December.  It’s going to be a very last-minute decision this time even by our standards!

If any of you are thinking of travelling in the next few months you can click here for the government website we have been using to keep up to date with the differing and ever-changing restrictions around the world.  It’s updated regularly so a really useful site.

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by and take a peek into where we are and what we are up to – we really appreciate it!

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